A Scar Everyone Can See
by Zarius
Summary: Danger Mouse is out of action and it's up to Penfold to save the day. Can he ensure millions of viewers don't miss Strictly on Saturday? (tag for "Melted")


**DANGER MOUSE:**

**A SCAR EVERYONE CAN SEE**

**WRITTEN BY ZARIUS**

**Author's note: **Here you are CalvinFujii, Penfold on a solo mission as requested

* * *

_Blackpool, and at the heart of the matter, a most urgent crisis has emerged, somebody is holding the strictly ballroom hostage!_

_Details are still sketchy, but surely there's only one rodent out there that can solve this problem._

_Well, that's just it really, we ourselves have a rodent problem over here in London, and hopefully the city doesn't topple over before we solve it._

_How would the city topple over you ask? Well, have you heard Danger Mouse sneeze?_

_I bet you have, there's about a dozen fanfics on this site which have him dealing with the sniffles._

_Oh no, here he goes again..._

"AHHHHH CHOOO" yelled Danger Mouse as his sneezing again got the better of him, the ice pack placed on top of his head by a helpful Squawkencluck leaping into the air and landing back on his cranium with each successive sneeze. In his mouth, the thermometer went critical and threatened to implode, releasing its red liquid all over the room.

"That better not burst Danger Mouse, I just changed this labcoat from creamy white to crystal white" said Squawkencluck.

"You have an awfully persistent habit of catching a cold Chief" Penfold said.

"Oh shush Pevolf, Ahd pastd mee thea toastd" said DM, unable to speak coherent English.

"Sure chief, though we really should get another one. The release spring doesn't work on it anymore and I have to manually take it out each time" Penfold said, putting on some mittens and prying the now charred toast out of the machine and handing it to the ill DM.

"You really shouldn't feed him burnt toast Penfold" Squawk advised.

"Relax Professor, he won't be able to taste the char with his nose all blocked" said Penfold, not apparently realising the health risks of eating the toast regardless.

Colonel K barged in with the news the narrator was trying to convey earlier in the story.

"Blathering Blisters, is no one going to take on this task? The Blackpool tower ballroom has been taken hostage, and strictly's due to air in twenty-four hours"

"Why can't the other agents handle it?" asked Squawk.

"They're too busy promoting Children in Dire Need of a Year Off School...I think that's what the charity's called anyway" said the Colonel.

"I'll bea righed on itd" said the incoherent DM, trying to get out of bed, only to fall off the edge and into a crumpled heap. Squawkencluck gently helped him back up and placed the covers over him again.

"You're in no condition my little mousketeer" said Squawk, gently caressing his head and feeling his temperature.

"Ok then, Pinstripe, lad, I am assigning you to his case with all of DM's authority and power"

"First of all, it's Penfold, and secondly, can I get my own version of the opening titles?"

"Don't push your luck my hamster hero" said Squawk, giving Penfold a sly wink.

Penfold accepted the compromise and set to work.

"Right, let me in the Danger car and I'll fly straight out there" said Penfold.

"Oh heavens no, you're not taking that out, it needs a good waxing and maintenance check, no, take a cab Preston"

"Penfold...and this is Blackpool, nowhere near London, how many cabs are we talking here?"

"As much as you can afford"

"Why can't I just take the bus?" said Penfold.

"The Danger Agency aren't commoner's lad" said the Colonel, reacting as if he was almost offended by the suggestion.

Penfold sighed and called up the bank to check how many funds he had in his account.

After Squawk made him a packed lunch, Penfold headed off on his way. It wasn't long before he was in several cabs heading all the way across various towns and villages to Blackpool, all of the taxi drivers had questions to ask him, mostly about his views on the election and brexit. It was really just an opportunity for the drivers to vent their own personal frustrations about things, with Penfold acting as their unwilling and very captive audience, and he dare not even refuse to pay as an act of protest.

Finally, after spending a fortune of his own currency as well as the Agencies' emergency funding, Penfold arrived at Blackpool pleasure beach, where the area had been cordoned off by the local authorities.

Penfold approached one of the officers, an antelope.

"Identification" the officer asked

"Penfold. Earnest. Danger Agency" Penfold said, proudly showing off his licence.

"Hmm, what's so earnest about danger somehow giving you agency?" said the rather dim-witted officer.

Penfold could tell he was going to be here for a while if this persisted, so he wandered over to the seaside to catch a better view of the tower.

High above the tower, he caught a fleeting glimpse of dark hazy purple energy swirling all around it like a vortex.

"That looks awfully familiar" said Penfold.

Watching from atop the tower, a familiar stuffed bear signalled to his mistress that someone had arrived.

"I think they're here" he said.

A lighting strike emitted from the tower, it travelled downward and scooped up Penfold, catapulting him through the sky and slamming him head first into the tower's structure, before he was shot straight into the tower ballroom.

"Where is he? Where's the mouse?" came a looming voice as the dark more mature form of Dawn Crumhorn, flanked by Mr. Snuggles, descended from above, just as Penfold steadily recovered from the experience.

"He's unavailable, you're going to have to deal with me" Penfold said, dabbing his cut lip with his tie.

"You're the hamster"snapped Dawn coldly, disappointed

"What's this all about Princess? Were you unhappy with a couple being voted out last week?"

"She doesn't even like Strictly you half-wit" said Snuggles, picking Penfold up and flicking him off his mammoth paws, Penfold hit his head hard against the walls and slid down to the floor.

Penfold checked the back of his head for any blood and was relieved not to find any, at least not yet. He picked himself up and, wearily, stormed back over to where Dawn and Snuggles were stationed.

"I don't get it then" a confused and weakened Penfold asked

"What's not to get?"

"Well, if you don't like strictly, why are you denying all of its fans the chance to see what's become a big tradition for them? Blackpool is big business and ratings"

"Who cares about Z-list celebrities and the fickle public voting to keep in absolute amateurs, there's a real pro in the ballroom now, and I'm not letting go of it until I get what I want"

"Which is?" asked Penfold.

"Next month is the anniversary of my duet with the mouse under the northern lights, I just wanted to get his attention so we could...you know, mark the occasion"

"Oh yes, here we go again, I never hear the end of it with this 'Melted' business that went on between you and the Chief. Nobody ever asks me how I feel about this...how none of us seem to have moved too much past it, it's consuming you and the Chief...and the sad reality is, until the reruns come to an end, we're never going to move past it and see what else life can throw at the pair of you"

"You seem bitter, wanna talk?" Dawn said, her darker side giving way to her more innocent , child like form, as she sensed something raw in Penfold, something unique, a _selfishness_ that appealed to her.

"The chief was given the role of bumpsdaisy by you, but he wasn't your first choice was he? No, that was ME. I was going to be your bumpsydaisy, you had our first dance all prepared and arranged, then, just as we were beginning to enjoy that first dance together in your ice palace when the chief had to be a big sour puss grown up about things and interrupt us...you stormed off and got so worked up about him doing that, that when we met up with you next, you gave him the role so you could iron out how you were feeling towards one another. Crumbs Dawn, I know you can be an insensitive ice queen, but there was no need to freeze me out like that"

"Oh, a temper, a crack, I like the cut of your jealous jib" said Dawn.

"This is _amusing_ you?" said Penfold.

"My feelings for the Mouse are complex, there are times all he ever does is make me angry, especially the days where he thwarts me at every turn. When those days occur, I worry about how I look, how I act around him. Then there are the times where I try to plan my day, which isn't easy. The days without my dad are the coldest I've ever felt, sometimes I just want the Mouse to hold my hands the way he did on that day and make me feel warmer than I've felt in ages"

Penfold was quite surprised that Dawn would be just as open to him about how she felt as she was to the Chief whenever they interacted.

"I suppose what I want from the Mouse is clarity, but after what you just said, about how I hurt you, by taking your moment away, it reminds me of just who I am"

"How you like to take candy from a baby?" Penfold asked.

"It's better that I be a scar everyone can see than a wound only a privileged few can close. My dad could do it easily, Mr. Snuggles can do it in a snap, the Mouse can do it, and he stands the best chance of changing me...but the rest of the world deserves to see how damaged I am, because it's a reminder of how careless society is when they think they can just punish the children for the sins of their fathers"

"So what you're saying is...I'm not going to get an apology out of you?" said Penfold.

Dawn smiled and held out her hand.

"An apology is what you want; I'm in the business of giving people what they need"

"And what do I need?" Penfold asked.

Dawn snapped her fingers and the ballroom ignited into a clear hue of brightened pink light, and the soundtrack of 'Melted' kicked in over the loudspeakers

"Closure" said Dawn.

And, motivated partially by the likely possibility Dawn would relinquish control of the tower once the routine was completed, and partially by the opportunity to bask in his wish coming true, Penfold embraced the role of Bumpsydaisy and took Dawn on a spell-binding waltz across the ballroom.

For Dawn, the scar everyone can see, this was her chance to be the privileged one.


End file.
